Asciano Group

Bandanna Energy Limited (ASX:BND), through its wholly owned subsidiary Springsure Creek Coal Pty Ltd, is pleased to announce it has awarded a contract to Asciano (ASX:AIO) for the haulage of coal for up to 15 years.

Australian Market Report of February 1, 2011 includes: Exoma Energy (ASX:EXE) signed farm-in agreement with CNOOC (HKG:0883); Moly Mines Limited (ASX:MOL) (TSE:MOL) has received loan commitment from China Development Bank for up to US$250 million; Asciano Group (ASX:AIO) secures another 3.5 million tonnes contract with Anglo American; Kidman Resources Limited (ASX:KDR) reported encouraging near-surface copper results in New South Wales.

The Australian shares gave up their early gains and ended in a negative territory on Monday. The market weakness was mainly due to tax-related selling ahead of the financial year end of June 30. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 28.5 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 4384.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 0.67 per cent to settle at 4409.7.

The Australian share market Tuesday resumed trading after a long weekend and started nearly no change. Overnight the US stocks closed slightly lower despite strong economic data from Europe and upbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official helped to support much of the session. However, the market sentiment was dented after credit rating agency Moody's lowered its rating on Greece's debt to "junk" status.

The Australian share market fell sharply Wednesday after led by mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as metals prices dropped. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended down 69.8 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 4648.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 65.1 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 4665.9.

Australian shares ended lower on Thursday after a weaker-than-expected ABS retail sales data and Myer's disappointing result for first half FY2010. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 26.3 points, or 0.57 per cent lower, at 4621.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index gave up 29.1 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 4644.1.

The Australian sharemarket closed marginally lower in light trading yesterday as banks were down on concerns that bad debts could increase after interest rate rise. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gave up 5.9 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 4670.60, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 0.19 per cent to 4686.40 points.

Asian shares were mostly steady on Tuesday after significant rebounds in the previous trading session. Yesterday the Dow index concluded the last trading day of November in positive territory. It was its fifth consecutive monthly gain, despite a bad news from Dubai.

US shares fell overnight led by Wells Fargo. A late sell-off in financial stocks was triggered after an analyst cut his investment rating on the company, saying the quality of its earnings was pretty poor. The Federal Reserve's latest beige book, showing weak consumer spending during late summer, also weighed down the market.

Wall Street hit new highs for the year over optimism of the corporate earnings. The rise was led by Caterpillar as a broker said the company was among the best-positioned companies to benefit from improving global growth and spending on construction, infrastructure and commodities.